Thx for the motivation.

Hard to hear, laptop volume on max, video volume on max. Also on my desktop have to turn speaker volume close to max. No problem with most other videos on this site, so I guess it's not a problem with my equipment.

I can hear easily.

I've had complaints recently about the low volume too but this one was OK. Check your system volume.

I did, on two different computers.

It's not my equipment, because when I play one of JoshSpecht's endgame videos with the same volume settings as a curtains video, I get blown out of the house. That means there's a very big range in the volume of videos on this site. They should try to keep all videos around the same volume.

Awesome post..! Wonderful rant..! Thanx for the inspiration..!

I think you're right about the kids and their motivation. In the Soviet system there was always a group of equally talented players, no matter how great you were. There was always the incentive to do that little extra step to be the best. From the low level sports places to the Kasparov-Botvinnik school, it was always there. I guess that's one of the reasons why Russia even now has such a ridiculous amount of great players, just look at tournaments like the Aeroflot Open. Najditsch, the best german player with a rating just points shy of 2700 went there this year and ended up like number 30 or 40. I think Loek Van Wely got 0.5 out of his first 5 games.
Even in Germany, where chess is hugely popular we don't have such a system. My hometown has 250.000 inhabitants and some 20 or 30 chess clubs, but there is no system that's comparable to Russia. I guess Jussupow has a school now and I seriously hope we will see a German top player in the future. I hope Naiditsch will make it into the super elite, but for a country with the most titled players after Russia we're really lacking elite players and I think this has to do with the lack of motivation. Why become a chess player when you can make a lot of money otherwise?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, your rants and your games together make for really great! videos.

I let this play in the background at work. It was a bit quiet but clearly audible. I had a feeling you might not play well in the live blitz-- clearly your mind was not on the game at all. There's no need to defend your chess prowess or your intelligence-- it's beyond self-evident. Anyone who would try to challenge you like that is either tongue-in-cheek or just wants attention or something.

It's clear you have a lot of passion for this game-- probably you contribute as much to chess in America as anyone. All the best.

I liked the first part with the review of some of the 3-minute blitz games. More like that would be great. And the game in the middle with the short analysis afterwards. But I fast-forwarded through a lot of the rambling. It was kind of repetitious and I didn't see some of the points.

You said these blitz guys around 2700 or so were "weak". Well, they are 500 points away from the blitz best list, but you are on the best list for 5-minute! So of course they are going to be weaker than the guys you play in 5-minute. It just means your blitz rating is low compared to your 5-minute rating.

I agree kids like Roy Robson shouldn't be praised excessively. But praise is probably one thing that gives them motivation. Too much praise might make a kid think he's great and he's already "arrived" and doesn't need to work hard. But is Roy Robson slacking it? I don't think so, although I don't know anything about how much he studies and trains. The implication of the rambling was that the kids are slacking it because of too much praise. Any evidence for that?

If there was some more chess after the rsq64 game, let me know, cause I kind of fast-forwarded to see if there was a chess board on the screen after that, and I didn't see one.

Ray Robson is a chess machine, but my main point in his specific example is:

1. He and his trainers should have the world championship on their mind when he's at a very young age.

2. There should have been a support system in place for him, in order to make these goals a reality. These systems should be set up far before he ever appears on the scene.



The excessive praise...I still think there's something wrong with it, but hard to explain. I feel like it leads to an small but significant overall lowering of expectations of American players. Fact is that I feel that almost every one of our top talents doesn't reach their fullest potential for some reason. In fact we never have anyone who has even a glimmer of chance of being world champion, and it's been this way for like 40 years. I think it shows there is something wrong with the system.

Also there is a MUCH larger player pool for blitz chess, being on the best list in 5-minute means a LOT less than being on the blitz best list.

Why do let some random posting by some random person on some random forum upset you so much? (Ego, ok, but still.)
How long have you been active on the internet? Haven't you learned anything? You can never win a discussion online, no matter how right you are. There will always be some idiot who is simply incapable of common sense, logic, reasoning. And even if you do mange to convince them, the next day some other idiot comes along and the whole thing starts again, ad infinitum.

Was not the idiot his friend or something? And I think curt was right. I also only looked at the current rating and gave shit to the old one. Also I would have guessed some years off from chess would make the guy weaker. You opened my eyes. I bet some 2400 rated guys thought they could beat Kamsky when he came back to chess.

When I watched the video, I gradually came to realize I wasn't being warned about International Master Insane.

You showed a lot of passion in that video. All in all, I thought it was entertaining.

I can't imagine a lot of people were fooled by his charade and if they were, its only because they bought into the fact you are too rusty at chess at the moment. So in either case, people still think you are the better player so I would not have even bothered defending yourself.

I don't read the forum where these posts occur, but I think he felt threatened enough by your presence to make that post. Maybe he identifies himself as a great chess player, so he thinks that is where his competitive edge playing poker comes. The idea you're better than he is crushes his illusion and probably humanizes him in the eyes of everyone who felt intimidated playing him.

Anyway, that part is probably more about his ego than yours.